Comments on: Omri Casspi’s Thoughts on the Israel-Palestine Conflicthttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/
Your Source For The Best In BasketballTue, 16 Sep 2014 16:24:52 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.3By: proud israelihttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652566
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:51:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652566I am an Israeli jew (my brother was taken to go to the war) and none of you people know what is going on in are country.
the Arabs just want to kill us and take over the land. during the war Israel took over the Gaza radio airwaves and told all the civilians should stay in their homes and not be near terrorists.The arabs did not listen and placed children near all of israels main target so the whole world would think that we kill children.may god continue to watch at for his people lilving at such a time
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652525
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:23:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652525“Many Arabs are Jews.”

And are they persecuted by the Israeli government for having the “wrong” skin color?

Sure, but in the Jewish Bible, the land was promised by God to the Childen of Israel, so an Arab Christian would be regarded the same as an Arab Muslim in that regard. So why would that constitute proof that the cleansing was made on non-religious views.

]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652507
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:15:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652507Sigh. No, it’s not true that “European Jews” have zero ties to Palestine. Aside for themselves tracing their initial origins to Canaan (debatable), all Jews (non-Europeans included) have a religious connection to that land. And no, that doesn’t give them the right to proceed with ethnic cleansing (where did I argue that?), it DOES explain why that land has been the target of immigration by Jews living elsewhere (not just Europe), even before the Zionist movement started in earnest.

That’s what I’m saying, that besides Muslims (and Christians), there was also a continuous Jewish (by religion) presence in Palestine. This included Jewish people who never left, and immigrants from other areas. This has increased throughout Ottoman times and then the British rule, aided by the development of Zionism and the increase of persecutions elsewhere, mainly in Europe. Now, you guys argue that white people should stay the eff in Europe, because they’re… European and white? Weren’t they allowed to seek a better life elsewhere? They weren’t allowed to settle in Palestine? (Tel Aviv and others were founded on purchased land,for example). Because they happened to be white? I’d scale down on calling other people racist if I were to argue that.

Now, once the British rule ended and for the first time in history, there was a discussion of one or more NATIONAL states be established in the area we know as Palestine… the Jews (by religion) already made up one third of the population. Given that they knew what to expect as a minority population in any national state, and that the Arab revolts showed them how much the Muslim Arabs wanted to do with them, why not have two states? They did make up one third of the population. By the way, are they still “European” Jews now? Are their children, born and raised there, European at all?

One may argue that the UN partition was unfair, and that the Jewish state should have been smaller, or with different borders. Okay, but the Palestinian Arabs (sorely devoid of leadership) never made another two-state proposal and instead turned to their non-Palestinian Arab neighbors to help them “deal” with the Jews. They apparently claimed the entire area of Palestine for an Arab state; I say “apparently” because a state of Palestine was never proclaimed then, with whatever territorial claims. Take the government of southern Cyprus as an example, which claims the entire territory of Cyprus as its own, and today issues passports to Turkish Cypriots living in the north, even though they don’t fall under ROC administration. Because that’s what a people laying claim to a territory do.

And since the PA has been seriously trying to get the UN to accept Palestine as a state based on 1967 borders, I disagree that the Palestinians won’t accept the two-state solution. Looks to me like they are actively trying to.

Lastly, to everyone claiming that the conflict is racial and not religious driven. Religion is the main culprit for the prolonged conflict. It’s religion which drives Israeli settlers to continue living in settlements (illegal – all of them) in the West Bank; they believe that the entire place was awarded to them by God. This, incidentally, is the major difference between Jews and Afrikaner: the former have a religious motive for claiming the whole land (well those who feel that way anyway, because a lot of Israelis don’t), while the latter had a racist one (black and coloured people were supposedly “inferior”).

And it’s religion which drives the Palestinian extremists to never stop fighting until ALL of Palestine is devoid of Jews. The Hamas charter clearly defines the movement’s character as Muslim and their program as Islam. They want an Islamic state, not just a Palestinian one. This has nothing to do with anything but religion. This is in direct contrast with Fatah, who also don’t recognize Israel (formally) but at the same time recognize the right of jewish people to live in Palestine.

Hence, both sides have blood on their hands.

]]>By: EPhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652497
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 07:36:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652497Damn, shame on you SLAM. I notice that SLAM deleted the best comment on this post (also a very respectful and fact-based post) by “Pals” that explained how biased western news sources are in favor of Israeli military violence (and how biased they are against any notion of Palestinians being human) when they cover anything related to Gaza. I was so impressed by Pals comment that I told my wife about it. And now when I come to read it to her, it’s gone. Not only should SLAM stick to covering basketball, when they do reach into world affairs, they should have the guts to leave any comments on their site that are respectful and fact-based.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652458
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:21:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652458Lorne, everything you’ve said is 100% on point. Good stuff. Peace and love.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652457
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:20:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652457Uh, first of all, Israel wouldn’t even accept the 1948 partition plan today, since they’d have to give back the Golan Heights to Syria and all the other land they stole over the last 60 years. But even then, you’re just wrong.
The Palestinians wouldn’t accept that 1948 partition today, nor should they. As for your little “Hamas et. al. excluded, of course”–I like how you basically exclude the legitimate leadership of Palestinian resistance. Hamas is an elected representative of the people of Gaza. Excluding Hamas means excluding a majority of Palestinians.

And I am looking at history in its entirety, which is why I realize that the European Jews have zero ties to the land of Palestine. You seem to have trouble distinguishing between ethnicity and religion. The Palestinians are the indigenous people of that region. The original Jews of Palestine were brown-skinned people who have more in common to today’s Arabs than they do the white-skinned European settlers. Many Arabs are Jews. Just because white people have a monopoly on Zionism doesn’t mean they have a monopoly on Judaism.

You keep bringing up the Ottomans, like that means something. The Ottomans were also foreigners to that land, and the Arabs had a right to revolt against them. But in so doing, many Arabs made a costly mistake trusting the British. What’s your point? The Ottomans were non-Arabs, but the people who lived under Ottoman rule IN Palestine were Arabs, and they were Arabs before that too. Hence, their land. Just because Kurds are “ruled by” Syria and Turkey doesn’t mean they aren’t the indigenous inhabitants of those lands.

Actually, I understand Europe quite well–which is why I know people like you won’t ever hold white people accountable. You’re denying the entire history of the Palestinian people, but I’m the one ignoring history? Why don’t we have some honesty… do what most Zionists aren’t afraid of doing: Just admit you think Arabs are subhuman. Be honest about you white supremacy.

]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652448
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:44:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652448@ pposse: Lots of people converted to Judaism all around the world. It doesn’t mean they originated in Palestine. We have to separate ethnicity from religion. The Palestinians are the original indigenous inhabitants of that land; the Europeans are foreigners. European Jews have no right to create a nation on somebody else’s land–it doesn’t mean they can’t go there as guests, or immigrate there provided they respect the customs and rules of the Arabs.
Take Islam, for example. The country with the largest population of Muslims is Indonesia, nowhere near the Middle East. They do go on religious pilgrimages to Mecca, etc. etc. and they do share a spiritual connection to that land, but when they go there, they go there as guests. They don’t have a right to drive out the indigenous Arabs who already live there and set up their own South Asian state.
I know you’re well meaning and I respect you asking though, and your willingness to understand the situation. Hope that makes sense.
]]>By: zhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652438
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:55:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652438Excellently said
]]>By: Saleem Rainmanhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652431
Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:16:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652431Man, I was worried about the reactions of this article when I read the headline. But Its good to see that there are some guys here who have a good head on their shoulders here and understand things at an intellectual level, and have common sense. Im proud of y’all slamily
]]>By: ppossehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652345
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:53:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652345ill be the first to admit that nearly everyone in here if not all know more about this issue and many other concerning the middle east than i do. If this is only a 65 yr old problem as stated numerous times then i can accept that and do my own research in order to educate myself on everything. BUT, note, I was not born yesterday; the only issue i had with the orginal statement was how there should be no claim to the European Jew to Israel. Im not jewish, but i always thought you had to be born jewish (you cannot just convert like you can to Islam), and if jews originated in Israel, then that would be their native land; so no matter where they are now, that land is where it can all trace back to.
]]>By: Holger Geschwinderhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652324
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:19:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652324You are right that a lot of real issues in the world hinge on religious beliefs, but that doesn’t make those beliefs true, nor does that make them a good basis for trying to solve political problems.

Here are three reasons why appealing to religion is the worst way to address this crisis.

1) Your religion is not my religion. Why should anyone who is not a believer CARE what is in this or that scripture from this or this religious tradition? These things only matter to their adherents, mean nothing to their antagonists and therefore have ZERO value in solving conflicts like this. (“I’ll see your Torah quote and raise you one Hadith”, ad infinitum). This is a waste of everyone’s time.

2) Your religion is full of baloney. Need I remind you that the bible also “indicates” that people can live to be hundreds of years old, get pregnant without having sex, perform magic tricks, come back from the dead, ride around inside whales, etc, etc. You, meanwhile, most likely find my religion to be full of baloney. What’s that? You don’t judge other religions that way? Well how about I tell you I am a Scientologist. Now tell me my beliefs aren’t kooky. With a straight face

3) This is not a religious problem. Contrary to a lot of superficial news reports, late night comedy show routines, etc this is not millenia-old conflict between implacable foes who are doomed to be on opposite sides of ancient religious divides. It is a roughly 65 year old political problem (maybe twice that if you look at the history of Zionism as a movment) arising from political self-determination for one oppressed group that was the target of an anti-Semitic European genocide; colonial settlement and ethnic cleansing of someone else’s land who had nothing to do with that genocide; and all the complications that have flowed from that reality.

Actual religious belief barely enters the picture. Don’t forget that many of the ethnically cleansed Palestinians are actually Arab Christians (Edward Said was a prominent example).

]]>By: ppossehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652200
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:22:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652200It wasnt an attempt at humor, it as an honest question Lorne. If you can’t handle the fact that a lot of real issues are based around religious beliefs then the joke is on you. Why would i read through this whole thread and make an attempt at humor? For what reason? I did/do read parts of the bible in my spare time and there are plenty of mention of israel being the land of the jews. Teddy the Bear in his post says that the European Jew doesn’t have right to that land; my thinking is any jew has right to that land if the laws (torah or holy book) says that. Same can be said for muslims and any other religion that says that land belongs to them.
]]>By: Lornehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652181
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:40:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652181It doesn’t blatantly ignore anything. Europeans have no business building up nations in that region. The history you speak of involves people ethnically native to that land, whether they are Jews, Muslims, or Christians. Since Crusades, the most massive incidents of killing over a prolonged period of time have been because of an occupying European presence. These Israelis are simply today’s example. That’s what you are missing. European Jews are entitleted to NOTHING in that region. The only tie they have to it is religious. Religion is NEVER a justification for mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing the Israelis are perpetrating right now. Europeans belong in Europe unless they are willing to accept the fact that they neither will be nor should be the dominating and ruling group in the lands to which they’ve journeyed. That’s really the bottom line to this topic. Like South Africa and Zimbabwe, the Europeans in that region will know no peace until they begin to do what is right, starting with the cessation of the ethnic cleansing of Arabs from those lands.
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652159
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:07:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652159Arguing that ALL of Palestine should have become an Arab state where
Jews
and others were simply supposed to live as a minority blatantly ignores
the entire history of Palestine. Well the territory we call “Palestine”
today anyway. There’s a reason why this jewish “Arab burden” as you put
it happens in Palestine and not Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran or
elsewhere, and it’s way more complicated than “hey look, there’s some land up for
grabs over there in Arab country, better that us Europeans show up and
get it before they realize it!” But for some, that would involve setting a less-convenient checkpoint for the beginning of the history which we are willing to accept.

This is my last reply to this topic. And I agree that SLAM would probably do well to keep out of political dispute, even though they were only reporting on something an NBA played had said.

]]>By: T-Moneyhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652150
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:43:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652150i’m surprised that casspi touched that question. his pr folks must not be too happy. in any case, i try to avoid these debates as most people can’t make the distinction betweem zionism and judaism.

alsom throughout times, people from all over the world have converted to judaism and they are not all linked to the middle east. the ashkenazi and sephardi and falashas do not share any “ethnic” links. to me, talking about a jewish ethnic group is as ridiculous as talking about an islamic ethnic group including south-east asians, northern africans, sub-saharian africans, and people from the middle east.

i also have a profound issue with any non-secular state, regardless of religion.

]]>By: charliewinninghttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652092
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:46:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652092Nothing you’ve said justifies the savagery of that so-called legal state of Israel. The learned well from Hitler because they are doing what he did, except his victims aren’t white so the international community thinks it’s okay. Mark my words, Zionist aggression will not only lead to them being the first to launch nuclear weapons post-WWII, but they will lead this planet to it’s doom by igniting another world war.
]]>By: Lornehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652078
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:37:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652078I know this is hard for you religious nutcases to believe, but the world doesn’t operate based on what’s in your fairytale book. It’s holy to you, but it means nothing when it comes to these issues. If that was an attempt at humor then you failed.
]]>By: Lornehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652076
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:33:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652076I love how you bastards will always justify the WHITE/European right to genocide and landgrabbing. Nothing you said is anything more than filthy racist bs. The Palestinians should have taken a deal to split up their own land? It was theirs!!! Israel has no right to exist in that land, no matter how you spin it. Period. No ifs ands or buts. How a Jew feels connected to their European roots should never have been an Arab burden in the first place. The results of whites persecuting other whites, who happen to be Jewish is a white/European problem. And you know what? 99% of what you said is filthy propaganda to begin with. You know so little about whats’s going on, that you should be ashamed to even have an opinion, much less share it. The Jews not only took the most economically feasable and fertile lands, but also the lands richest with natural resources, historical relevence, and access to waters necessary for any civilazation to prosper in that region. Why? Because of a white sense of entitlement. The Jews tht lived in that region prior to that horrific Zionist landgrab are the only ones with a right to exist in that land. The Europeans in that Zionist slaughter state are just as barbaric as Hitler’s Nazis. They are the same. I don’t care what the U.S and the rest of the West labels a terrorist. You people are in no moral position whatsoever to dictate who is and isn’t evil.
]]>By: Bishop1405http://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652074
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:26:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652074neaorin although your comments have not been popular…you held it down.
]]>By: EPhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652033
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:41:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652033Pals, I couldn’t agree with you more. Thanks for speaking the truth.
]]>By: Habeebahttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652027
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:30:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652027*votes your comment up*
]]>By: ppossehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652014
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:32:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652014i might be wrong on this, but doesn’t the bible clearly indicate that the jews do have a right to the land?
]]>By: Seanhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652012
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:05:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652012I no longer read or purchase the paper copy of Slam as the writing standard has decreased consistently throughout the years. I loved Slam when I was growing up. You guys wrote great articles and you kept me as a reader into my early 20s and I was dissapointed as the standard of your magazine declined steadily through my 20s. You can count me out as visitor to your website now. This is the straw that breaks the camel back. If you’re going to publish highly politicised pieces like this you need to contextualise them appropriately. Mr. Casspi, although entitled to his opinion, is highly, highly biased. This is not a simple or straight forward issue and to lead your young, impressionable readership into thinking it is, is irresponsible to say the least.
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652006
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:21:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652006So I’m whitewashing some empire’s crimes but we’re okay with ignoring
everything that happened beforehand because we no longer live in the
Ottoman times? Okay then.

I don’t value any Israeli’s life any more than an Arab’s – that’s why I said that the original 1948 plan was
the best thing to implement. Two states with a special status for
Jerusalem. But the Arab nations (not just Palestinians!) were bent on
having an Arab state established within the entire territory of
Palestine even though the Jews made up roughly 1/3rd of the population. Funny thing is that today they would take that 1948 plan with both hands (Hamas et. al. excluded, of course).

You say that the Jewish people have no right to call Palestine their homeland. For historical reasons which go way beyond your current enemies of choice, I say they do. Sure, the Jews immigrated to Palestine – because they were finding life increasingly difficult elsewhere.

The fact that you proposed that a Jewish state be created somewhere in Europe after the war shows how much you misunderstand both Europe and the Jews. Assuming you would find enough area for a state in Europe (not likely), why would a Jewish family in, say, France, Germany or Russia feel any more connection to a homeland in say Poland than in the land where their Jewish ancestors originally lived? We saw how much the Jews went for Stalin’s idea of relocating in the Russian Far East.

Funny how even Hamas say that Jewish people would be welcome to live within an Arab-led Palestine, even though, you know, the Jews stole their land. (Well, that’s what they are saying at least). And since we both agree they need a state of their own (a haven from persecution elsewhere, which inevitably seems to happen from time to time)… I guess we’re left with a two-state solution in Palestine.

Sorry. But either have a look at history in its entirety to understand why s**t happens the way it does… or stick to basketball.

]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2652002
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:48:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2652002Israel has as much a right to exist as the white apartheid state of
South Africa or Ian Smith’s racist minority government of so-called
“Rhodesia” (now Zimbabwe). You can’t objectively, or in good conscience, argue the existence of a state that literally depends on racism for its survival. I read a survey that said 58% of Israeli Jews would describe Israel as an “apartheid state.” 74% support or think it’s at least necessary, even if they don’t like it, to have segregated roads. 69% think that, were the Palestinian territories to be annexed outright, the Palestinians should be denied the right to vote. There’s not much of a debate about this, even in Israel.

The only way you can justify this is if you value the lives of white Europeans more than you value the lives of brown-skinned Arabs. Which would make you a racist. Because that’s basically what the argument boils down to.

The reason I say the Brits were the
“original” invaders is because we’re no longer living in the time of the
Romans, or the Ottomans. We’re living in the era of Anglo-European
imperialism, headed predominantly by the USA and Britain, with Israel
being their watchdog in the Middle East. We can talk all day about how
bad we feel for the original Israelites (who looked nothing like today’s
white European settler Israelis, by the way) when the Romans
invaded–and that would be an interesting conversation, but it’d have
zero bearing on today’s events. I’m interested in what affects us now.
White supremacy affects us now and it affects the Palestinians now.

The US and Britain are empires on
a scale larger than anything seen in history; Israel is but a branch of
their empire. Whitewashing their crimes by saying “EVERYONE conquered
and was conquered in the past!” is just not true.

I
can see the only thing that concerns Zionist supporters is what would happen to the foreign
white occupiers if the racist state were disbanded, and not the brown folks being killed right now.
Well, I can’t say I share those same priorities, but if it’s any
consolation, there are still white people in Zimbabwe and in
South Africa. The difference being that black people aren’t today being
forced onto reserves and being put under siege by them.

“Yes,
just like there never was a Jewish state in Palestine before 1948 there
never was an Arabic Palestinian state either – in fact the Palestinian
Arabs supported the British in 1916 because they needed to get rid of
the Ottoman rule before they could hope to realize their own
nationalistic dream.”

I disagree. The Palestinian
Arabs may have been ruled by the Ottomans, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. They lived ON that land for hundreds of years and had their own unique, Arab,
Palestinian identity. There’s a world of
difference between that and the white European Jews who had zero ties to that land. The Kurds, for example, don’t have equal claim to Chechnya even though they don’t technically have their own state.

Look, I’m not in opposition to a Jewish state at all. In fact, I wish there really had been a legitimate Jewish state created after WWII–I would support that wholeheartedly. I’m in opposition to the RACIST state that was created the British with the intent to lay siege to the Arab world–a state that only exists due to the ethnic cleansing of close to a million people.

I see a world of difference between Haj
Amin al-Husseini and the early Zionist leaders. His Pan-Arabism was a
reaction to British colonialism and he was against colonial settlement.
Zionism is a byproduct of British colonialism and IS colonial
settlement. Yes, the Brits played the Arabs the same way they played the
Native Americans into supporting them temporarily–that doesn’t mean they were willing to be colonized.

And while the Nazis were undeniably evil, at that
time, if you would have asked the majority of the world (i.e. the Global
South) to compare Germany and Britain, I guarantee you most people would have
preferred Germany. I mean, 1 billion deaths alone can be attributed to
Britain’s colonization of India. The Nazis were bad news for Europe and
I’m glad those evil fascists were defeated, but to the rest of the world,
they were NOT the threat that these other European countries posed. It’s not a pretty truth that many people in the West want to hear, but it’s a truth nonetheless. *Not to diminish the crimes of the Nazis and the German expansionism in any way.

]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651996
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:48:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651996Listen, every time you’re going to list the “original invasion of
Palestine” by the British why telling others to check their history I’m
going to call you on it. Yes, just like there never was a Jewish state
in Palestine before 1948 there never was an Arabic Palestinian state
either – in fact the Palestinian Arabs supported the British in 1916
because they needed to get rid of the Ottoman rule before they could
hope to realize their own nationalistic dream. I personally see no
difference between early Zionist leaders and someone like Haj Amin
al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who helped start the revolts in
the 20s and 30s and later settled in Nazi Germany.

And yes, when the whole history of that place is a laundry list of conquest after conquest, it seems hypocritical to me to just focus on the last one and ignore the rest. But that’s just me. And there are good reasons why those “European” Jews were in Europe in the first place, just like there are good reasons why Zionists rejected Uganda or even Madagascar as places for their state.

I see (after
also reading your other posts) that we’re never going to agree. I
believe Israel has a right to exist, and that the 1948 proposal was the
best possible arrangement for that. Of course, at that time the
Palestinians and their Arab League neighbors thought they would drive
the Israelis into the sea within days. Well, it didn’t happen, did it.

So, I propose that we stick to basketball-related stuff in the future.

]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651995
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:45:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651995You make a great point. Sorry to be stickler, but the numbers are much higher than that. Also, it’s NOT sad for everyone–i.e. both the Israelis and the Palestinians. It’s sad for the Palestinians. In 2009 alone, the IDF killed 300 Palestinian children during Operation Cast Lead.
When the United States massacres people in Afghanistan and Somalia, it’s not sad for everyone–it’s sad for Afghanistan and Somalia. When Rwanda (backed by the US) attacks the Congo, it’s not sad for everyone–it’s sad for Congo. It’s media propaganda that makes us try and find an equivalence to Israeli aggression on the Arab/Palestinian side. There is none, other than resistance, which is *always* legitimate against foreign occupation. And even then, the death tolls are heavily disproportionate.
Heck, the Germans, when they occupied France, considered the French resistance terrorists too. Today we consider those “terrorists” to be heroes. Every occupier calls the native a terrorist when the native gets “uppity” and puts up a fight.
(notice how most conflicts and invasions today are started either directly or indirectly due to US intervention–hmm…)
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651993
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:08:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651993Your attempts to justify European colonialism are really amusing. That’s nothing but white supremacist rhetoric–nothing new. To answer your question, yes, it was and still is Arab land. You’re going to use the Roman (another white European civilization, by the way) conquest of the Middle East a thousand years ago as an excuse for the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Arabs, many of whom are alive TODAY? Whose families are alive TODAY knowing their nation was stolen from them? Whose ancestors lived there for hundreds of years? Disgusting. I guess the Uyghur separatists of China should invade Brazil because they’re pissed that the Mongolians once ruled them during ancient times… Gee, that makes sense.
And again, what does EUROPEAN anti-Semitism have to do with Palestinian Arabs? Nobody denies that the white Jews of Europe were persecuted. That doesn’t give them the right to ethnically cleanse a people on a separate continent, who lived on that land for hundreds of years. What ties do–I repeat–WHITE EUROPEAN Jews have to the land of Palestine? If the European Jews wanted a nation-state, why not carve out a piece of land in Europe?
“Both aimed to create political structures which had never before existed in Palestine.” LMAO. So the *idea* of Zionism in the modern sense, as espoused by Theodore Herzl in the late 1800s, is as old as the PALESTINIAN *PEOPLE* (keyword: Arabs) who lived in Palestine for hundreds of years?! And if these European ties to Palestine are so irrefutable, why did the Zionists
consider Sudan and Uganda as a place for their “state” before they settled on Palestine?
Of course the Zionists were better at conquering land a continent away than the Palestinians… They got in bed with the Brits, who had already invaded Palestine and set up the so-called British Mandate, from which they formulated the “Jewish” state. The Palestinians were resisting British colonialism. But to a white supremacist, British imperialism is like a wet dream.
As for the poor victimized Israelis who are apparently being denied a homeland by those nasty Arabs… One wonders why 50% of them have passports outside of Israel, in places like the US and Britain?
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651980
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:26:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651980We really need to delineate the heart of this issue–and that is white supremacy, also known as racism. Zionism is nothing but white supremacy masquerading as Jewish nationalism. There were many Arab Jews in Palestine prior to their conquest by European Jews. The same methods used by white settlers to usurp the lands of America, Canada, Australia, South America, and swaths of land in Africa (particularly South Africa and Zimbabwe), were used to usurp the Arab peoples of Palestine. People don’t like to hear about it because this is exactly how the United States became a nation–but this is exactly what’s happening right now in Israel.
In fact, in November 1975 the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 that stated, clearly: “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.”
We need look no further than the actual words of Zionist leaders. They don’t hide their racism–they’re proud of it. Here are some actual quotes:
—
“When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle.”
AND
“We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel… Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours.” – Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, New York Times, 14 April 1983.
—
“Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist… There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.” Moshe Dayan, address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in Haaretz, April 4, 1969.
—
“It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonialization or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands.” – Yoram Bar Porath, Yediot Aahronot, of 14 July 1972.
—
And once more, Theodore Herzl, the modern founder of Zionism, once said:
“It is essential that the sufferings of Jews… become worse… this will assist in realization of our plans… I have an excellent idea… I shall induce anti-semites to liquidate Jewish wealth… The anti-semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-semites shall be our best friends.” (from his own diary).
—
And last but not least, with respect to Zionist claims that Palestine should belong to white racist European Jews because of biblical history, when the Jews once ruled Israel… Well, turns out Palestine was chosen because it was easier to conquer (given that the Brits had invaded it already) and it served British imperial interests quite well that way. Theodore Herzl (and the British) proposed many other places for the creation of a Zionist state before they settled on Palestine–among them, places as far away as Africa (Uganda and Sudan) and South America. So that pretty much dispels that myth.
One thing that bothers me, though, is the hypocrisy of Americans and Australians criticizing Israel while their own indigenous populations are treated like sh!t and have had their lands/nations completely stolen from them. There is literally no difference between their situations and that of the Palestinians. I like that people are concerned about Israel/Palestine but the best way to help is to take action where you are–i.e. support indigenous peoples resistance. Even if it’s as little as acknowledging their oppression, because most people won’t even do that right now.
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651979
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:17:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651979Oh, and since we’re all about giving land back to the “original” owners, I guess pretty much everyone in the US will be packing up their stuff and heading back to Europe, Asia, or Africa any day now, so the American native people can roam the plains once more. Right?
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651977
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:12:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651977ARAB land, huh? How, pray tell, did that land become Arab in the first place? Oh, that’s right – conquest. Pretty much every corner of land in that place has been conquered and re-conquered since the beginning of time.

The Brits were the original invaders of Palestine? Guess things like the Ottoman Empire, the Ummayad Caliphate or hell even Alexander the Great or the Roman Empire mean absolutely nothing to you. I guess this is American-style history when everything that happened before roughly the 1700s never really happened. Meanwhile the Jews were persecuted throughout the world, and were denied a homeland, because apparently some great-great-great-great-grandfathers of theirs decided to kill Jesus. Just look at the origin of the term “ghetto” for one, it was first used in Venice in the 1500s. How’s THAT for fairness?

Yes, both sides have blood on their hands ever since both Zionism and Palestinian Arab Nationalism came to be. And before that. Both aimed to create political structures which had never before existed in Palestine. The Zionists were just better at it, that’s all.

]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651974
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:48:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651974wow… I really need a disqus account. Sorry for the double post again, please minimize this one and view the comment above. Lol.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651973
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:47:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651973Those are really nice words there, but the fact is, by Islamic, you
really mean Arab, as many anti-Zionist/anti-imperialist leaders of the
Arab world were and are secular. So, given this distinction, how in the
hell can an occupied peoples (the Arabs) “invade” the actual invaders of Palestine? Where do you get that logic?
So, despite the fact that
Euro-Jewish paramilitary groups, (i.e. terrorists) like the Haganah and
the Stern gang, who for years prior to 1948 were driving Palestinians
from their homes and assassinating Arab (and even European) leaders,
it’s ISRAEL that’s defending itself? Really?
I see what you’re doing
by mentioning Iran, but that type of nonsense isn’t gonna fly here. Iran
has the largest population of Jews in the Middle East (outside of
Israel), and they all enjoy full religious freedom.
Zionism does NOT equal Jewishness. Actually, quite the opposite. In fact, this is what Theodore Herzl had to say:
“It
is essential that the sufferings of Jews… become worse… this
will assist in realization of our plans… I have an excellent idea. .
I shall induce anti-Semites to liquidate Jewish wealth… The
anti-Semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the
persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-Semites shall be our best
friends.” — from Herzl’s own Diary (Part I, pp. 16). For those who don’t
know, Theodore Herzl is the father of political Zionism! End of story.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651972
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:39:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651972Those are really nice words there, but the fact is, by Islamic, you
really mean Arab, as many anti-Zionist/anti-imperialist leaders of the
Arab world were and are secular. So, given this distinction, how in the
hell can an occupied peoples (the Arabs) “invade” the actual invaders of
Palestine? Where do you get that logic?
So, despite the fact that
Euro-Jewish paramilitary groups, (i.e. terrorists) like the Haganah and
the Stern gang, who for years prior to 1948 were driving Palestinians
from their homes and assassinating Arab (and even European) leaders,
it’s ISRAEL that’s defending itself? Really?
I see what you’re doing
by mentioning Iran, but that type of nonsense isn’t gonna fly here. Iran
has the largest population of Jews in the Middle East (outside of
Israel), and they all enjoy full religious freedom.
Zionism does NOT equal Jewishness. Actually, quite the opposite. In fact, Theodore Herzl once wrote:
“It
is essential that the sufferings of Jews… become worse… this
will assist in realization of our plans… I have an excellent idea…
I shall induce anti-Semites to liquidate Jewish wealth… The
anti-Semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the
persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-Semites shall be our best
friends.” — from Herzl’s own Diary (Part I, pp. 16).
For those who don’t
know, Theodore Herzl was the father of political Zionism. End of story.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651971
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:25:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651971^ Sorry for the double post. Please minimize this comment and just read the other one, where the format isn’t all messed up.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651970
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:21:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651970Something we should really clear up, because folks are still really
confused about something that’s not very complicated: Zionism has very
little to do with religion, and everything to do with race. It is white
supremacy, plain and simple. The white settlers of America who committed
genocide against the indigenous population also used religion–albeit
Christianity/Puritanism–to uphold the myth of white supremacy over the
so-called “savages”. That’s how they justified slaughtering innocent
women, men, and children. That doesn’t mean the United States represents
all Christians. It’s called imperialism.
Judaism originated in the
Middle East, and the Arabs are Semitic peoples. It’s not anti-Semitic to
oppose Israel. While we should recognize that the (white) Jews of
Europe WERE oppressed, we should also understand that this rampant
anti-Semitism was strictly a EUROPEAN phenomenon. Jews and Muslims lived
in peace for hundreds of years in the Middle East, and the Arab world
has generally been much more tolerant of religion than Europe–of course
there were problems, but nothing on the scale of European progroms and
the Nazi Holocaust.
So, naturally, we should recognize the right of
the European Jews to self-determination, and their right to form their
own nation-state (especially after the Jewish Holocaust of WWII).
However, what we can’t accept, is making the Palestinians pay for the
crimes of EUROPEAN anti-Semites.
The Palestinians and Arabs had
NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HOLOCAUST–I repeat, NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, OR
ANY OTHER VIOLENCE THAT THE JEWS FACED IN EUROPE. The *European* (I
can’t stress this enough) Jews have NO right to land that belongs to
Arabs, many of them Jews as well, who themselves were the victims of
British colonialism! Why should the Palestinians be denied nationhood in
the name of giving European Jews a state, when these people had NOTHING
to do with their oppression?
It’s just insane (i.e. RACIST) to
believe that Europeans can impose themselves on any non-white country in
the world, steal their land, and be a “legitimate state” without
resistance. Israel has NO right to exist. The
German/Russian/Polish/British Jews should have carved out their own
state in Europe, or integrated with the indigenous Arab community as
respectful guests. Instead, they drove out hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians by force, stole their land, massacred their people, and
today claim to be the victims of Arab aggression. The f*cking nerve!!!
This
is a clear-cut issue–there is no “neutrality” and “balance.” When
people say “Both sides have blood on their hands” or “Both sides are
bad,” what they’re really doing is ignoring the entire history of
Palestine and all the imperialist aspects of this issue. All that does
is legitimize the imperialist settlers and the racist ideology of
Zionism.
]]>By: Nima Alizadehhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651968
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:17:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651968you jacked their land jackass.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651967
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:15:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651967Something we should really clear up, because folks are still really confused about something that’s not very complicated: Zionism has very little to do with religion, and everything to do with race. It is white supremacy, plain and simple. The white settlers of America who committed genocide against the indigenous population also used religion–albeit Christianity/Puritanism–to uphold the myth of white supremacy over the so-called “savages”. That’s how they justified slaughtering innocent women, men, and children. That doesn’t mean the United States represents all Christians. It’s called imperialism.
Judaism originated in the Middle East, and the Arabs are Semitic peoples. It’s not anti-Semitic to oppose Israel. While we should recognize that the (white) Jews of Europe WERE oppressed, we should also understand that this rampant anti-Semitism was strictly a EUROPEAN phenomenon. Jews and Muslims lived in peace for hundreds of years in the Middle East, and the Arab world has generally been much more tolerant of religion than Europe–of course there were problems, but nothing on the scale of European progroms and the Nazi Holocaust.
So, naturally, we should recognize the right of the European Jews to self-determination, and their right to form their own nation-state (especially after the Jewish Holocaust of WWII). However, what we can’t accept, is making the Palestinians pay for the crimes of EUROPEAN anti-Semites.
The Palestinians and Arabs had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HOLOCAUST–I repeat, NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, OR ANY OTHER VIOLENCE THAT THE JEWS FACED IN EUROPE. The *European* (I can’t stress this enough) Jews have NO right to land that belongs to Arabs, many of them Jews as well, who themselves were the victims of British colonialism! Why should the Palestinians be denied nationhood in the name of giving European Jews a state, when these people had NOTHING to do with their oppression?
It’s just insane (i.e. RACIST) to believe that Europeans–Jews or not–can impose themselves on any non-white country in the world, steal their land, and be a “legitimate state” without resistance. Israel has NO right to exist. The German/Russian/Polish/British Jews should have carved out their own state in Europe, or integrated with the indigenous Arab community as respectful guests. Instead, they drove out hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by force, stole their land, massacred their people, and today claim to be the victims of Arab aggression. The f*cking nerve!!!
This is a clear-cut issue–there is no “neutrality” and “balance.” When people say “Both sides have blood on their hands” or “Both sides are bad,” what they’re really doing is ignoring the entire history of Palestine and all the imperialist aspects of this issue. All that does is legitimize the imperialist settlers and the racist ideology of Zionism.
]]>By: Ryanhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651965
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:08:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651965‘It’s a tough situation. You’re dealing with a terrorist organization that doesn’t really care about its own people.”

He’s dead on but he should be talking about the Zionists controlling Israel. What they’re doing to the Palestinians is wrong just EXACTLY like it was wrong for the Nazis to do it to the Jews, Gypsies and others.

]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651962
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:58:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651962Those are really nice words there, but the fact is that other Islamic nations have actually invaded Israel in 1948. And again in 1967. And again in 1973. And while there’s a remote chance of something being lost in translation, Iran’s current president did say that Israel should be “wiped off the map”. I can’t really blame Israel for their “better safe than sorry” policy towards Iran.
]]>By: Teddy-the-Bearhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651961
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:46:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651961^ Typical Zionist nonsense. How can the colonizer and colonized ever have equal blood on their hands? Oh that’s right, they don’t.
First of all, what claim did white European Jews have to ARAB land in the first place? Oh, that’s right–none. And it was the European settlers who drove the PALESTINIANS out by terrorism, via their racist paramilitary gangs. But I know white racists (many of them liberals) and their Zionist friends like to twist things around, and make it look like the colonizers are oppressors. “Drive the Jews out”? lmao!
Second of all, check your history. The UN didn’t create the nation of Israel–the British did. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 is what essentially set the Zionist state in motion. The British, who were the original invaders of Palestine, thought that the creation of a white European (Jewish) state in the Middle East could help keep those uppity natives in check and protect their colonial interests, in particular the Suez Canal.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the British employed this tactic all over the world, from the United States/Canada to South Africa and Zimbabwe–they’re all white colonial settlements.
Also, the UN at that time was very much an institution of European and US
imperialism (and still is)–why else would they invade Korea a few years
later?
Israel is to Palestine as the racist minority government of Rhodesia was to Zimbabwe, or the apartheid government was to South Africa: An illegitimate white colonial settlement. And by the way, over 100 Palestinians were killed in the span of 7 days, roughly a third of them children. Half the population of Gaza consists of young people–i.e. youths. Something like 3 Israelis died from rocket attacks. But okay, I guess “Both sides have blood on their hands.”
]]>By: Holger Geschwinderhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651959
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:32:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651959I suppose this is a good “neutral” round-up of the conflict: http://vimeo.com/50531435

But really, it’s hard to be unbiased in a conflict like this. One side believes (justifiably) that the history of pogroms (i.e. massacres) and systematic discrimination against them in every corner of the world where they have existed in significant numbers makes it necessary for them to have their own homeland, especially after the European holocaust of the mid 20th century.

The other side believes (justifiably) that they have been violently shoved off their own land and out of their own homes, and are being made to pay the price for crimes against humanity that were committed not by them, but by European Christians; and that they are now second-class citizens in a South African-style apartheid regime.

It is very complicated, it is not simply reducible to religion, and it is, by the way, very difficult to get a nuanced understanding of this conflict from US media, which is reflexively and almost uncritically pro-Israel. You will actually have better luck getting a rounded picture of this in the Israeli press (e.g. haaretz.com), the Arab press (e.g. english.ahram.org.eg) or elsewhere (e.g. guardian.co.uk)

]]>By: Chubachuchihttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651958
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:28:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651958People calm down this article isn’t about Israeli-Palestinian beef it’s about HAMAS the organization. And they are crazy, they’re the ones firing the rockets but the Palestinian civilians are the ones getting killed back. Slam you need to specify what he’s really saying unless you’re really about this TMZ sh*t.
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651954
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:12:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651954except that’s not true. Have a look at the Arab revolts in Palestine through the ’20s and ’30s – years before Israel even existed.
]]>By: neaorinhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651951
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:02:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651951Well then I guess the Palestinians should have agreed to the UN’s initial partition plan instead of asking their Arab League buddies to invade the territory of Palestine and drive the Jews out in 1948. The funny thing is, if they were offered the same deal as in 1948, everyone in Palestine except Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Ansar etc. would take it in an instant. Both sides have blood on their hands.
]]>By: Sarahhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651932
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:50:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651932Exactly! Though I disagree…I think this was very much on purpose.
]]>By: Sarahhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651931
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:48:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651931While I am repulsed by this article, iIn any case, what this does show is that SLAM actually has a more intelligent, well read, and open-minded audience than a lot of websites…and than their own writers. This piece is so unapologetically biased it’s not even funny. Stick to what you know or pass the mic. Regardless, you obviously know very little about your own readers.
]]>By: robbhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651912
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:47:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651912I don’t think Slam did it on purpose, but I for one I’m glad they posted this article, because now it’s clear to me that Slam posters are smart and well-informed people. I’m proud of you guys, for real. I’m not palestinian or anything related by the way.
]]>By: Reddhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651905
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:03:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651905It’s not even the Jewish faith, it’s Zionism. I got no beef with Jewish folk they’re cool. My issue lies elsewhere and sadly people generalize and think its Jewish people but I get what you mean.
]]>By: aicomebackhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651896
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:40:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651896finally someone who understands why neither side will ever budge
]]>By: jason terryhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651891
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:29:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651891whack article SLAM bias one sided, stick to basketball
]]>By: Reddhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651862
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:53:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651862Agreed I looked, I read something off Huffington Post that didn’t side with either country but can’t find the piece but I’ll keep looking.
]]>By: Ughhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651851
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:22:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651851Fort the most part excellent comments here reproaching Casspi for his incredibly offensive drivel. I’m glad so many Slam readers have actually learned abut this complex issue.
]]>By: Paishttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651829
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:50:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651829When people are subjugated to extreme conditions, extremists will always find support. Address the core issues, provide these people with the right to live with dignity and control over their own lives. Allow them their own economy, allow them to govern themselves. Israel simply cannot fathom that a strong Palestine wouldn’t exact revenge after everything they’ve suffered at their hands, so they keep them under their heel. You have no idea what you’re talking about if you think Iran is planning to wage war against Israel. You’re exposing your own ignorance by thinking that the Iranians, one of our oldest and greatest civilizations would be so stupid. Iran makes a show of support for a cause that’s dear to many muslims, but just like all the other Islamic nations they would never take it further than that.
]]>By: sushhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651815
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:24:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651815I thought SLAM was a basketball publication, not a Zionist propaganda outlet. This really shameful, if you must dabble in the politics in the region, why not focus on some of the peace, basketball related activities such as hoop camps where Palestinian and Israeli kids can get together and learn about each other? Instead SLAM chooses to focus on the Israeli sob story “We’re so terrified of those crazy Palestinians!!” Like really guys? You’re completely ignoring the Palestinian side of the story, where hundreds of them have been killed, thousands made homeless, and even after this ceasefire, Israel is still shooting Palestinians at the border. You’re in line with the most bias media line in the world. Anderson Cooper, BBC, even Cristiano Ronaldo have been outspoken supporters of the Palestinians in these times. If you can’t do anything but spread propaganda, stick to posting articles about basketball.
]]>By: Neekhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651814
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:23:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651814And what about the Israeli’s with all of their U.S weapons? Why is it that those of us who aren’t fair skinned are always labeled terrorists when we fight back or help each other? Anyone who won’t get down the the Western agenda is a a terrorist if you believe our government’s lies. If someone pitches a tent in my backyard, bulldozes my house, and then proceeds to takeover the rest of my property and leave my family homeless I won’t stop fighting til I’m dead.
]]>By: Guy Weisshttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651804
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:03:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651804As a Jewish American with strong Israeli ties, i am extremely offended by this article and demand that it be clarified or taken down. This is not reflective of Casspi’s views about the Israeli-Paleastinian conflict at all. This is how he feels about Hamas, a political group that is considered a terrorist group by the United States and Israel. Casspi’s quotes are used completely out of context and are used in a way to make it appear that he feels all Palestinians are included in his statement. The headline is extremely deceptive and I personally think that in the same way that the New York Times doesn’t report on President Obama’s basketball ability, Slam Magazine should not report on foreign affairs.
]]>By: Sean Bhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651798
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:00:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651798Why can’t they live together, as some put it? Because it is sacred to both sides, and neither side will budge on that because it is in their beliefs. If you feel it was mandated to you, by god, you wouldn’t concede an inch, and that’s a big part of the issue.
]]>By: Lornehttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651785
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:40:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651785I guess you didn’t read about the part of this conflict’s history when it started when Palestinian land was violently taken by Western-backed European Jews who decided their holy book entitled to land that was already occupied. Both sides have fought mercilessly. As a person of color, I tend to sympathize a bit more with Palestinians. From Africa to Asia to the Americas, seems as though the West will always justify why they should be allowed to kill for land and natural resources that don’t belong to them. I pray for the Palestinians, who have suffered far more than Israelis ever have in this conflict.
]]>By: Marianohttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651782
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:35:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651782While the Zionists on Omri’s side aren’t any better, I think he’s referring specifically to Hamas.
]]>By: arnoudhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651767
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:14:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651767And the same can be said vice versa, if people would read up you can simply jump to the conclusion that Israel isn’t exactly clean either…
]]>By: phislammajammahttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651761
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:13:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651761yeah, there are no unbiased links man go read some history books and see for yourself and just read info that doesnt come out of the US because what they say about the rest of the world here is just ridiculous
]]>By: Holger Geschwinderhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651753
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:04:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651753“We all wish for peace, but it’s hard to have peace with people who really hate you. They don’t want you to live. They’d rather kill their kids and kill you, too. They’re crazy people.”

Branding an entire people as hateful, murderous, filicidal and crazy. Nothing racist about that!

]]>By: Rhodiohttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651752
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:01:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651752The Israelis and Palestinians of Gaza under Hamas will never live in “peace”. Hamas doesn’t think Israel should exist- period. You can’t live in peace when your enemy wants you gone. That is why this conflict has gone back so many years. People should read up on the basis of the Arab/Israeli conflict. Hamas lobs their Iranian-sourced/funded rockets at Israeli cities and when israel retaliates they say Israel is the bully. It won’t surprise anyone when this escalates to a regional war since Iran is just waIting for the right time to jump in. I hope Cassipi’s family stays safe.
]]>By: elmaarhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651748
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:50:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651748Agreed.
Don’t know what is shown to you in the States and other parts of the world, but here in Europe we are fed total bull which resolves around not the reasons of conflicts involving jews, but one sided results and consequences.
I’m not anti semitic, the jews have suffered a lot and random people are not at fault by any means. but there’s a reason there’s always been tension involving jews beginning with World War I and nowadays. The history is twisted.
]]>By: Solitohttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651734
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:34:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651734Really Slam?! Nothing is worse then mixing sports and politics. You should stay away from articles you can’t put credible, fact based sources behind, and keep it simple… you know, report about guys making millions playing a sport they don’t like.
]]>By: Reddhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651731
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:32:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651731Something a Zionist would say. Funny how South Africa which was helped by Israel during apartheid & been Israel’s friend turned its back on Israel because it said Israel was commiting discrimination. Furthermore Einstein turned down presidency for Israel because he foresaw this.

Saddest thing still is that the children of both countries are being hurt by this, either with their lives(mostly Palestinian kids) or their innocence. That’s the worst thing about it.

]]>By: Reddhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651727
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:27:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651727I got you mike, once I get on my laptop.
]]>By: Paishttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651726
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:26:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651726Wow, Slam what’s with the propaganda? Here we have one of the densest populated areas in the world, hemmed in physically by a wall, economically by an embargo, working your menial jobs for less pay, all while suffering regular air strikes. No where else in the world could this happen. No other people could dream of getting away with this. And the little bit of land they have is still being encroached on by Israel. The death toll doesn’t even begin to compare. For all the threat they pose Palestinian rockets might as well be pea shooters, particularly when compared to the IDF, one of the most advanced military forces in the world. Afford them the same rights that most human beings take for granted and you’ll start to see change, but if you just reduce it to “they’re crazy people”, well you don’t have a chance. Israel is easily the most belligerent nation on the planet, since they snuck into those houses in the middle of the night armed to the teeth 60 years ago. Like the people as individuals but it stops there. Acting like they have the right because of the evil that they endured, dam it they ought to know better. I’m not muslim, Palestinian or by any means an anti-semite, but my heart goes out to the Palestinians. I wish they had someone to help them.
]]>By: Conorhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651721
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:14:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651721Both Palestine and Israel are at grave fault.
]]>By: Mike Gilberthttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651719
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:12:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651719I don’t know much about this topic…anyone got a good, unbiased link where I can educate myself?
]]>By: phislammajammahttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651709
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:00:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651709Yo these Israelies and these Palestinian people need to stop pointing their fingers and look at themselves man, please take a good look in the mirror man
]]>By: spit hot fiyahhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651703
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:52:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651703“People don’t realize there are certain cities in southern Israel that have been under attack for the last 12 years” and he apparently doesn’t realize that the Palistanians have had their land taken from them and terrorized by an entire state that is backed by US
]]>By: spit hot fiyahhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651702
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:50:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651702that is exactly what was happening before they decided to establish the zionist state known as isreal
]]>By: goat57http://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651695
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:37:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651695Why can’t both palestinians and Israelian people accept they are at fault, and start living together. Habeeba, I totally agree
]]>By: Habeebahttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651691
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:35:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651691Israeli attacks have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians–men, women, and children–over the years. Israel is killing Palestinian families and any sense of safety those people ever had. It’s sad for everyone, and I pray the situation gets resolved.
]]>By: Caribbeancophttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/omri-casspis-thoughts-on-the-israel-palestine-conflict/#comment-2651688
Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:31:00 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=240815#comment-2651688It have been so since the time of David .
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